New York Red Bulls vs. LA Galaxy | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Franco Panizo

New York Red Bulls vs. LA Galaxy
2017 MLS Regular Season
Red Bull Arena – Harrison, N.J.
Sunday, May 14 – 6:00 pm ET
WATCH: FS1, FOX Deportes in the US, MLS LIVE in Canada

The spotlight is always a little brighter any time the New York Red Bulls and LA Galaxy meet. This time will be no different.

The Red Bulls and Galaxy will meet for the only time during this regular season on Sunday in a Mother's Day matchup at Red Bull Arena. Both teams will be eager to win this one, especially after what transpired for each of them in Week 10.

Plenty of eyeballs will be on LA here given what transpired last weekend. The Galaxy rallied from two goals down to tie the Chicago Fire 2-2 at home, and did so without both Jelle Van Damme (substituted off early) and Jermaine Jones (injured) on the field. Playing without the two quality veterans again would seem like a blow, but LA head coach Curt Onalfo is confident his team can get results after what it went through against Chicago.

“We became a team tonight," said Onalfo after the match. "That’s the Galaxy team that you’ll see moving forward.”

New York, meanwhile, were on the wrong end of a 3-0 result on the road against the then-winless Philadelphia Union. A number of miscues on both ends of the field and a hat-trick by CJ Sapong were the Red Bulls' undoing, but now RBNY head back to where they feel most comfortable to start a three-game homestand.

"We've got to take advantage of that and get momentum back," Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch told reporters on Tuesday. "When we get that momentum, [we need to] seize it and not look back on the rest of the year."

New York Red Bulls

Things were looking peachy for the Red Bulls after their last homestand. Then a two-game road trip changed everything. A reserve-filled New York side stood firm against Sporting Kansas City in the first half of last Wednesday's meeting before ultimately falling 2-0. A Saturday meeting with the struggling and winless Philadelphia Union seemed like the perfect opportunity to bounce back, but the short turnaround and some mistakes on both sides of the ball saw the Red Bulls lose by a 3-0 mark.

Now, the Red Bulls are returning to the friendly confines of Red Bull Arena, where they went 3-0-0 in April. Jesse Marsch's troops outscored their opponents 6-1 in those contests, and they are hoping to repeat the feat as they start another homestand against LA, Toronto FC and the New England Revolution.

Suspended: None
Int’l Duty: Tyler Adams (US U-20s)
Injuries: OUT - D Gideon Baah (broken leg); DOUBTFUL - D Aurelien Collin (abdominal strain)

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Luis Robles – Connor Lade, Aaron Long, Damien Perrinelle, Kemar Lawrence – Felipe, Sean Davis – Alex Muyl, Sacha Kljestan, Daniel Royer – Bradley Wright-Phillips

LA Galaxy

It might not have been a win, but the Galaxy think they definitely have something to build on following last week's 2-2 comeback draw at home against the Fire. LA were down 2-0 at halftime and had already burned a pair of substitutions, yet they still managed to rally, through goals from Daniel Steres and Giovani dos Santos, to pick up a point at StubHub Center.

Picking up their second road win of the season would be a good way for the Galaxy to keep things going. Head coach Curt Onalfo will, however, be without veteran midfielder and US national team regular Jones because of an injury suffered last week. Nonetheless, LA will have plenty of weapons to inflict damage on the Red Bulls, including dos Santos, Gyasi Zardes and Romain Alessandrini.

Suspended: None
Int’l Duty: None
Injuries: OUT - D Robbie Rogers (ankle injury), M - Sebastian Lletget (foot), M - Jermaine Jones (MCL sprain), GK - Clement Diop (hip)

Projected Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Brian Rowe – Bradley Diallo, Daniel Steres, Dave Romney, Ashley Cole – Joao Pedro, Baggio Husidic – Gyasi Zardes, Emmanuel Boateng, Romain Alessandrini – Giovani dos Santos